


Last Dance

by LiamNeedsom



Series: A Good Man is Hard to Find [12]
Category: Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Love, Misunderstandings, Peacock Dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 20:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21062828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiamNeedsom/pseuds/LiamNeedsom
Summary: Loyalties are tested and motives are misconstrued when Lee is required to perform a Peacock Dance. Set during "Stemwinder" (Season 4)





	1. Dirty Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> The time line of the Stemwinder episode is all over the place with days all bleeding into each other and things appearing to happen on the same day that couldn't possibly be right without a time machine. I have tried to beat some sense in it, but take full responsibility for any time gaps that don't make sense. And, of course, for any errors. Thanks as always to the friends who previewed this for me and helped make it better.

** Sunday **

"I'm sorry, Honey," Lee murmured into Amanda's hair as he held her in bed that night. "It'll all be done soon – just as soon as we pass her those damn frequencies tomorrow, we can walk away."

Amanda sighed. "You know how you told me once that I should be happy we weren't under the bed of someone we had under surveillance? You were so right – I thought the first night was bad, but it gets worse with every night you get closer to her. I just want to scrub off the icky feeling it gives me," she replied quietly, tucking her face into his neck. He was still slightly damp from the shower he'd taken the moment they got back to his apartment after his evening with Sonja – obviously he'd wanted to scrub something off too. She felt his warm chuckle rumble through his chest as much as she heard it.

"Oh Amanda," he smiled – she could hear him smiling - "Only you would use the word 'icky' for the past few hours."

"I have a few other words for it," she said, lifting her head to look into his eyes, "but I'm trying very hard not to use them."

"Nah, it's a good word for it," Lee sighed. "And I feel the same way. Even if you and I weren't together, I'd hate this one. She's so young, I feel like a creep."

"She's plenty old enough to be enjoying herself," groused Amanda.

"I'm not sure she is, actually," said Lee. "I think she's running on adrenaline thinking that she's succeeding in roping in a famous American agent."

"But she isn't, right?"

Lee looked at her with concern. "Of course she isn't!"

"Sometimes it's hard to tell," said Amanda, her tone aiming for light, but falling flat.

"You're not serious?" asked Lee. "Are you?" he added, uncertainly.

"No, not really," she sighed. "But when I'm sitting out there listening…"

"Listening to a script," he interrupted. "None of it is real, you know that."

"You have a script?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yes, I do, up to a point," he admitted. "We have to be careful to say certain things or not say others because it can affect any legalities later. But in this case, I meant Sonja – you can tell she's fresh out of spy school. Almost everything she says is a line I've heard before from other Soviet girls."

"Really?"

"Really," he nodded. "There's a reason they call this a dance, you know. She feeds me a line, I give her back the expected reply. She makes her next move, I dance a little out of range. She increases the bait, but trails it just out of reach…"

"Is this dancing or fishing?" asked Amanda, sarcastically.

Lee laughed and kissed her. "A bit of both. She has to dangle herself in front of the desperate older man who wants her and I have to act just interested enough to draw her out. And like I said, she's young – her trainers have taught her to expect lecherous American men to respond in certain ways, so she thinks I'm just like I told you before, "statistically valid for an American male my age". A seasoned agent like Francine would never fall for the stuff I tell Sonja in a million years, but Sonja's too new to this. I'd feel sorry for her if this wasn't a matter of national security."

"Well, it's all still icky to listen to," replied Amanda, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, if it helps any, you know she's not going to let me do anything more than this teenage boy stuff until she gets what she's after," said Lee, grinning at her, his teeth a flash of white in the dim light. "You're the only one who lets me get to home base anymore."

"That doesn't help at all!" she yelped, poking him in the chest. "That just sounds like you'd do more if she let you!"

"Amanda! Of course I wouldn't do more!" he defended himself, realizing that joke had definitely fallen flat. "I don't want to do more with her any more than I wanted to do more with all the girls I flirted with when I was with Andy." He paused and swallowed heavily, worried for a moment that bringing up old relationships was not the best course of action right now.

Amanda also paused and studied his face carefully. "You mean you didn't… you know… when you were with him?"

"No, I didn't! And neither did he!" Lee answered forcefully. "I told you before, we both flirted and dated to cover our tracks, but we didn't do anything – I'm a relentless monogamist at heart."

Amanda laughed softly. "The steno pool would be so sad to hear that."

"The steno pool got most of the action from our act," Lee pointed out, relieved that she could see the funny side of it. "But it did require a lot of trust – more from him than me, since I knew he wasn't actually interested in women."

"I trust you. I do," said Amanda softly, tracing circles on his chest. "But at least Andy didn't have to listen in on you."

"Oh yes, he did," Lee contradicted her. "Sometimes because we were 'double-dating' and at least once on another dance like I'm doing with Sonja. He hated it too – but believe me, unlike some guys, there is nothing more mood-killing for me than knowing someone you lo-… that someone is listening," he finished abruptly, then buried his face in her hair. "You don't need to worry," he said gruffly.

Amanda's heart had leapt at the way that sentence sounded it was headed, but she recognized from the way he was literally hiding from her now that he still wasn't quite ready for that last step.

"I'm not worried," she said, hugging him closer. "At least I try not to be. It's just… she's young and pretty and… well, you know, you dated a lot when we first met and then you had a long dry spell there after Leslie and before we got together-"

She stopped as Lee raised his head and stared at her. "Whoa! Now, wait a minute – I never slept with Leslie!"

Amanda blinked. "You didn't?"

"No, I didn't! We'd only been dating a few weeks when she showed up at my place that night – and I sure as hell wasn't going to after that!"

"Oh."

Lee moved back so he could look at her fully. "All this time… through everything… you thought I had?"

"Well, yes," she nodded. "I mean, you were dating, everyone was making jokes about how you weren't getting any sleep… and she was in your apartment! Making you dinner!" she said defensively.

"Oh my God," muttered Lee, suddenly seeing it from her point of view. "No, we never… I was trying to take it slow… I was just trying to have a real relationship – and that night she showed up was when I started to realize- "

"That she was awful?" huffed Amanda.

"That she was awful. And that I wanted you, not a poor substitute," laughed Lee despite himself at Amanda's sudden smug look. "A poor _awful_ substitute." He ran a finger along her cheek as they gazed at each other. "And Sonja isn't even that."

"Not even a little bit?" Amanda couldn't resist asking. "I mean, if your type is dark eyes and dark hair, she's definitely…"

"Amanda," Lee sighed. He rolled over, pushing Amanda onto her back and held himself above her, braced on his forearms before leaning down to kiss her thoroughly. "Not even a little bit."

As his kisses progressed down her body, and she felt his body's response in turn, Amanda let the last little sliver of doubt evaporate.

"Lee?"

"Mmm?"

"When this is all over…can I be the one to handcuff her?"

Lee's bark of laughter was a gush of warm air against her belly. He pulled himself back up along her to look into her dancing eyes with a twinkle. "Absolutely," he promised.


	2. Mixed Tape

** Monday (morning) **

Francine had turned to stare out at the bullpen when the tape had started playing. She'd heard similar tapes in her years at the Agency - hell, she'd been on several of them, but there was something about this one… it felt wrong to be listening to it with Amanda right there. A normal day, a normal partner, it might not have mattered, but these were shark-infested waters and no matter what Amanda had gone through in the last few years, you could see that this was taking a toll on her.

When this had all started just over a week ago, Amanda had seemed to be pleased to be assigned as a major player on a real case. After years of playing second fiddle to Lee as the senior agent, this was the first time she'd been assigned to such a big part in a sting and she'd confided to Francine that she was a little nervous about the whole thing.

"_I mean I know I was assigned to Paris, but I was just being me, you know? This time I have to do a whole public act with Lee and make it convincing. I'm not sure whether I'm more excited or terrified!"_

"_That's exactly how you should feel, Amanda. This whole mission is a big deal and there's a lot riding on our getting this right."_

"_Well, thank you so much, Francine! If I wasn't nervous before, I certainly am now!" Amanda had laughed and shaken her head._

"_Well, let me put it this way - there's nothing for you to be nervous about. Once you get that Lisbon variation bit out of the way, it's up to Lee to bring it home. Your part gets very dull, very fast, sitting in cold cars with cold coffee listening to him lie back and think of England."_

_Amanda blenched. "Well, he won't actually have to… will he?" she asked. "And I'll have to listen?"_

"_Oh no… Lee's too good at this to have to go that far," she said, reassuringly she thought, but Amanda didn't look convinced._

"_Good at this? How often has he done these before?"_

"_Umm, well, a few times – but not in a long time. I don't even think he's had to do one since you met him. It's usually a younger man's game…" she trailed off as Amanda's brows went up._

"_But he's been targeted by the Russians so we're giving them what they want?" asked Amanda slowly._

""_Well, yes. But not everything they want!" Francine rushed to add. "I'm sure he won't really have to…"_

_Amanda didn't answer at first, just looked thoughtful before saying, "Well, that's if you assume that's what they want. We don't know what Sonja Chenko might want."_

Now sitting here all these days later, she had only just begun to realize what this must be like for Amanda. It had to be agony for her – bad enough to be listening to Lee use all his predatory seduction techniques on another woman, but for it to be a girl who didn't know it was a trap? That was sure to be a little too close to home

"_I am very nearly eating you alive"_ purred Sonja on the tape and Francine had to bite back a completely inappropriate laugh. It would be like laughing at a funeral – worse, in fact, since the injured party was sitting only a few feet away. She'd already noticed the way Lee and Amanda had carefully distanced themselves in their seats, but what she couldn't tell was whether they were doing it on purpose to look professional or whether this stupid dance with Sonja Chenko was affecting their relationship. She glanced over her shoulder at Amanda as Sonja delivered that incredibly overacted "mixing business and pleasure" line, hoping that making a joke about it would ease the tension in the room, but one look at Amanda's stony expression told her that would be a terrible idea.

"I think we've got ourselves a carrier pigeon," said Billy.

He looked pleased, she thought – and why wouldn't he? This Stemwinder business was a huge deal and he'd been given a big responsibility to get it right. Get it right and promotions were his for the taking – get it wrong and well, she didn't want to think about that.

"Yeah maybe," agreed Lee. "There's something about this Sonja…it's just an itch."

Francine started to smile again, certain that this time, with such an obvious set-up, she could say something to break the tension, but Amanda had tensed up and Billy hadn't noticed, all his attention on Lee.

Lee was saying something now about going to talk to T.P., but Francine was watching Amanda who barely seemed to be listening until Billy turned to hand the recorder back to her.

"Excellent work, Amanda."

"Thank you, Sir."

"A successful Lisbon variation depends on teamwork!"

"Yes Sir," answered Amanda, shooting to her feet. "Lee did all the dancing."

It was a great line – one Francine would have been proud to deliver herself, but it left Billy slack-jawed as the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees and once again, she gave into that reaction of laughing in second-hand embarrassment. As Amanda left the room, Billy looked at Lee, seemingly only just noticing that Amanda was not handling this well.

_You shoved them together for three years and now you're surprised she's not happy listening to him with another woman?_ Francine rolled her eyes at Billy.

"This is no laughing matter, Francine!" he snapped at her, misunderstanding her expression. "Lee, you need to go apologize to Amanda!"

"I've been doing nothing but apologizing all week," Lee snapped back. "It was your idea to drop a barely trained agent into this, Billy, and you might recall, I specifically asked to not be put on this one!" He looked at Francine, who had lost all trace of humor now. "Did we have to call a conference to listen to this? It's bad enough she has to listen to me and Sonja once, let alone twice and with an audience as well! I suppose I should at least thank you for turning it off before the real show really started!"

Francine straightened up and stared at Lee. It sounded like he was suggesting that he and Sonja had… but he wouldn't do that to Amanda would he?

"The real show?" she repeated. "Just how far are you dipping this girl in this dance?"

Lee stood up and glared at her, exasperation written all over his face. "Don't play high and mighty with me Francine! You've had to do these too and you know perfectly well Sonja and I have not-"

"Overswayed?" she interjected icily.

"Both of you stop it!" bellowed Billy. "Francine, you have been an agent too long to question how other agents handle this type of assignment. And you-" he turned on Lee. "You have been partners with Amanda for too long to let it get to this point without making certain she understood what's going on!"

"I have made certain, Billy!" Lee shot back. "She knows none of this is real – but you know what she's like, and it is embarrassing as hell to listen to something like that in your boss' office!"

Billy glared back at him for a moment before giving in with a sigh. "You're right – I'm so used to treating her like an agent, I forgot she isn't as seasoned on this kind of thing."

"I'll go talk to her," sighed Lee, running his hand over the top of his head in frustration.

"No, _I'll_ go talk to her," interjected Francine. "This needs a woman's touch." When both men looked at her dubiously, she went on in icy tones, "I am still one of those, in case you hadn't noticed."

Lee glanced at Billy before looking back at her. "No, we hadn't forgotten, I'm just wondering if you're the woman we need here."

Francine refrained from actually snarling. "What do you think Amanda needs right now? This little stunt you're pulling still has days left to play out and she needs to have someone give her some backbone to see it through! Not someone who's going to baby her and tell her that it's just fine for an agent to be embarrassed by something like that!" Lee opened his mouth to argue and she cut him off. "Scarecrow, you know better than anyone what she can do under pressure – don't underestimate her now."

There was a pause, then Lee nodded. He recognized that use of his codename as a not-so-subtle reminder that his role here was partner, not lover. "I'll go call T.P. while you talk to her. I still think there's something about Sonja we're not seeing – she was a little too obvious on our first contact and she made it clear up front she knew who I was and that I knew what she was. I haven't quite figured out what her angle is there – she's either overeager and she's playing me for an old burnout or she's twisted loose from her handlers and she's doing something rogue. Anyway, T.P. is exactly the guy who will see what thread to pull to unravel all that. We can drop in and talk to him before we go collect the stuff from Dart." Lee had already drifted back into agent mode, his worries about Amanda forgotten for the moment.

"Well, Amanda will be ready to go with you – count on it."

Francine tracked her down a few minutes later, staring at the coffee pot in the break room, fingers tapping nervously on the counter as it brewed. She looked up as Francine entered and gave a wry smile. "I looked foolish didn't I? Like a sulky jealous girlfriend."

"More like a teenager watching a love scene with her parents in the room," she replied lightly.

"That's pretty close to the truth actually," sighed Amanda. "It's bad enough listening to it when it's happening, but it's just too weird to listen to it with Lee and Billy parsing it out like a play."

"Well, it is just a script," Francine started to say when Amanda waved her off.

"Oh, I know, Lee said the exact same thing, and I can hear that when I listen, honestly I can. Lee's got his acting voice on and nothing he says sounds like something he'd say, but…" she paused and glanced sideways at Francine. "Do you ever wonder if the other side has tapes like this of us?"

Francine blinked. "Well, you've never done something like this, so there can't be."

"No, but you have – and if we're recording Lee when he's with Sonja, don't you think the odds are pretty good that she's doing the same?"

Francine nodded. "Yes, she probably is."

"And if we've got bugs and scanners and phone taps on their people, aren't they probably doing the same thing?"

Francine nodded again.

"So somewhere in Moscow, there are probably people sitting around listening to us in what should be private moments." Amanda fiddled with the coffee cup in front of her, jerkily adding sugar. "It's just weird that we're so secretive and then in the same breath, everyone just accepts that we have no secrets."

"Oh, I think you have a few," quipped Francine.

Amanda gave her a brittle smile. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"So that's all that's bothering you?" Francine prodded her. "There's a lot of race still left to run and Lee needs his partner. If you're having trust issues-"

"Oh no, of course I'm not – and I'll be fine. I just had a bit of a wobble, as Emily might say. I let the stress of the professional get into the personal." Amanda smiled, a genuine smile this time. "But like Lee says, tonight we hand over the frequencies, Sonja thinks she's got what she came for and we can step back and let her run with it."

"Looking forward to closing night?" quipped Francine, grinning when Amada's face lit up with laughter.

"Like you wouldn't believe. These Russian plays are the worst."


	3. A Mean Cha-Cha

It was something in the gloating smirk that Efraim was barely hiding that had first tipped Francine off.

Someone had made an off-the-cuff remark in the bullpen about the Stemwinder assignments and when someone answered with a comment about Lee's partner being none too happy about his, she'd looked up in time to catch Efraim exchanging a look with one of the guys from the Technology group. It had been fleeting, but knowing and there was just something about it that got her hackles up.

She knew what the office gossips thought – that Lee would enjoy this mission just a little too much and that Amanda wouldn't – "poor Amanda", as she'd heard it muttered a few times, who had fallen victim to Lee's Scarecrow reputation. She also knew it didn't particularly bother either of them since people had thought that it was an unrequited crush almost from the first moment Amanda had walked into the Agency. Back then, even she'd thought that, until she learned better. But even if that had been true, no matter what else had gone on, she'd seen the way Amanda had stood by Lee in the aftermath of the Blackthorne scandal – and the way he'd let her – and that was enough to know that a simple peacock dance wasn't enough to come between them. But that smirk – that meant someone thought they had something and she didn't like that idea one bit.

She cornered Efraim about an hour later when she managed to catch him alone in a classroom and decided that playing Bad Witch would work best. "Okay, Beaman, spill it. You've got juicy gossip and I want in on it."

"Oh hi, Francine," he spluttered, flushing scarlet. "You're looking lovely today." He took his glasses off and cleaned them before slipping them back on and peering up at her myopically.

"I saw the look you gave Bancroft this morning – what's the scoop?" she pressed him.

"You need my help to get dirt?" he asked. "I thought you were the queen bee of gossip."

"So that would make you a drone then?" she lifted an eyebrow and continued to stare him down. "Spill it."

"What's in it for me?" he asked, moving around the desk to stand closer to her.

"That depends on whether what you think you know is worth my time," she replied coolly, not moving. She knew he was all bluster, and sure enough, he stopped more than an arm's length away, his slight sheen of nervous sweat visible. _Efraim may want to be a player, but he really is the world's worst flirter_, she thought.

"How about the fact that Scarecrow's cheating on his partner?" asked Efraim.

"That's not news. That's not even fact," she shot back, rolling her eyes. "We all know he's doing that peacock dance with Sonja Chenko under orders and even if he wasn't, they're just partners. For heaven's sake, Amanda is his backup!"

"Oh, I'm not talking about that," he smirked. "I'm talking about the one he's stringing along in Europe – nice girl from the sounds of it. Well, maybe not _nice_," he finished. He took in the skeptical look Francine was giving him and went on. "Don't believe me? The gossip in Translation says it's true."

"Translation? What would they know?"

"You know how our outgoing and ingoing calls get recorded and transcribed automatically? There's a call they worked on recently and let's just say, from what I heard about it, Scarecrow may just have forgotten someone might be listening in on his personal calls as well."

That had a ring of truth that Francine didn't like, but she still couldn't believe that Lee had reverted to type.

Efraim shuffled closer. "I'll tell you who to talk to – for a price," he leered. Well, he thought it was a leer, but mostly he just looked nervously hopeful. "Like say... you, me, and the photocopier room?"

Francine gazed at him stonily while she debated internally. She could ask Bancroft instead, but she wasn't sure he wouldn't spread it everywhere that she'd been asking; Efraim at least was easily managed. "How about no photocopier room, but you get to tell people you copped a feel and I didn't slug you? And you don't tell anyone I was interested in knowing?"

"That'll be extra," he said,

"Okay, you tell people you copped a feel and I didn't slug you _and_ I won't actively deny any of it?"

Weirdly, Efraim looked relieved at that offer. "Deal. Talk to O'Reilly – he has the transcript."

_Transcript? _That didn't sound good – now Francine was really concerned. She still took the time though to ask the question that was bothering her. "Why does this interest you so much anyway? I didn't think you were that into the office gossip."

Efraim shrugged. "I guess it's always amusing to us nerds when the head cheerleader is being played by the quarterback. Reminds us that life for the glamorous high and mighty isn't any better than what we've got."

"The high and mighty? Is that how you see Amanda? She's so nice, it's nauseating and she's hardly glamorous – she's got her suburban mom shtick down pat."

"Oh you know what I mean – she's Billy's golden girl. Don't tell me it doesn't bug you that she just waltzed in and started working on all the biggest stuff with the biggest agent. I worked my butt off to get into the Agency, sweated my way through the training doing everything by the regulations and do I get sent off to Paris undercover? No, but Amanda King does, with barely one iota of training under her belt."

"So you're jealous of her? Because her on-the-job training was unorthodox?"

"Aren't you?" he shot back. "You've slammed her pretty hard in staff meetings the past few years."

Francine took a breath to refute that, then realized in the next heartbeat that seeming like she was Amanda's friend might not get her that transcript – and then she might never find out what ridiculous story was spreading around the Agency. "I have to admit I've always thought she was pretty unlikely to land Lee Stetson, let alone become a real agent." _Even though she's managed both._

"And yet here she is," said Efraim sourly. "Getting better assignments than you most of the time without even taking a proper class."

"Well, I guess she's just one of those lucky people," replied Francine lightly.

"Well, like I said, she might be getting the plum jobs, but it looks like she hasn't got Prince Charming," smirked Efraim.

* * *

She could barely admit to herself that it was possible that Lee had gone back to his old ways, not after all she'd seen in the past year, but she didn't even pretend to herself she was going anywhere else – she headed straight for Level 7 and O'Reilly's desk.

"Hey, I hear you've got something I could use against Stetson for this year's Christmas prank," she said as soon as she saw him.

O'Reilly, who had looked nervous when she appeared in the doorway, relaxed, but only a little. "Yeah, I got something – but I'm not sure it's not a bit… nuclear for a revenge prank."

"That good, huh? Hand it over."

"What's in it for me?"

Francine leaned across the desk to stare him in the eye and O'Reilly's nervous look reappeared instantly. "What's in it for you? Maybe me not telling Billy that you refused to hand over information pertinent to the security levels of one of his top-performing agents when requested?"

O'Reilly gulped and immediately turned to start spinning the dial on the combination lock on the cabinet behind him. A few moments later, a sheaf of papers was dropped into Francine's hand. "Enjoy," he said.


	4. Head Couple

** _Monday (evening)_ **

Amanda spun her coffee cup around on its saucer, watching the black liquid swirl, a beat behind the motion of the cup. Lee wasn't talking much either, sensing her uncertain mood and also lost in thought about how things should go later when he met up with Sonja.

He'd told Sonja he'd be coming later than usual, dropping a few comments about his involvement with the imminent war games, hoping to whet her appetite for the frequencies and leaving it late enough that she would able to do very little with them except pass them on to her superiors. Played right, if she didn't realize she'd been used and if the Russians had just enough of a window into Stemwinder to be useful, but not damaging, his supposed "seduction" would make Sonja a star among spies with the KGB and they could continue to play her along for a long time to come. It could be a useful long con, to have an unwitting source in the Russian camp, but at the same time, he was counting the hours until he was free of this peacock dance, No, he decided, after this, he was telling Billy he was through with them for good. Two dances in in two years and although they were completely different, they had both sucked life out of him, leaving him drained and feeling like he'd lost something of himself.

He glanced up at Amanda and she briefly lifted her own gaze to meet his, giving him a sad smile, then looking back down. It was obvious that if this was taking a toll on him, it was worse for her. Passive participant was her least favorite thing to be and this week had literally been a long game of 'stay in the car".

"How's the family?" he blurted out, hoping to distract her.

"I barely know," she said with a soft chuckle that told him she recognized what he was trying to do. "I've been out every night this week and by the time I get home, the boys are asleep. I see them in the morning, but that breakfast rush is not really great for conversation – unless you count checking that everyone remembered their lunch and their homework."

"I'm sorry," he grimaced. "When this is all over, you should take some time off and just get to be Mom again for a while. Not that you're not a good agent," he rushed to add. "It's just good to get back to normal after something like this, you know?"

"I know. And it's not your fault I've been busy all week," she chided him, putting her hand over his and smiling across the table. "This is the job, right? And it has parts we don't like…"

"And parts we like a lot," he smiled back at her, resting his other hand on top of hers in turn and squeezing gently.

"I just hope your evening with Sonja isn't one of those parts," she teased him.

"Are you kidding? I don't even have one of her reheated gourmet take-out dinners to look forward to this time," he joked. "But I am looking forward to tonight as being the end of this whole thing. Once I pass the stuff, no more Sonja and back to -"

"My homemade meatloaf and boiled potatoes," finished Amanda. "Be careful what you wish for."

"That sounds like heaven," he sighed, staring at their hands, then glancing up at her again through his lashes with an impish look. "And exactly what I wish for."

Amanda dimpled at him across the table, and pulled her hand free to lift her coffee cup to her mouth. "I wonder if I can get Norman to fill a thermos before we leave? The coffee here is so much better than that stuff we pick up at the corner store near Sonja's."

Lee laughed, happy that the heavy mood that had been hanging over them seemed to have lifted and raised his own cup to take a sip. As they both set their cups back down, a movement caught his eye and they both turned to see Nikolas Rostov pacing toward their table. Lee braced himself – why the hell would he be approaching him in public? He looked past him, somewhat reassured to see that Francine was tailing him; maybe she'd picked up something that would make this make sense later.

"Excuse me. Are you the party that requested the limousine?" asked Rostov.

Lee glanced at Amanda who looked even more puzzled than he did. _Of course_, he thought, _she doesn't know who this is_.

"No" he replied.

"The call specified a black limousine… to be engaged for the entire evening—correct?"

"No," Lee repeated. Rostov was running the meet protocol perfectly – unfortunately Lee had no idea why. He could see Francine in his peripheral vision, snapping photos with her compact camera. "Did the caller leave a name?" he asked, trying to make it clear to Rostov that he didn't know why he was there

Rostov straightened and jammed his notes back into his pocket. "There seems to be a mistake," he responded in a dignified tone. "Excuse me."

As he turned to leave, Lee could see Francine ducking out of his way quickly, leaning on the bar as if she belonged there.

"Well that was weird," he said. "First Sonja, now her boss? What on earth could have dragged Nikolas Rostov out of his hidey-hole when every agent in D.C. is on edge?"

"Are you sure that was Rostov? Amanda asked, obviously shocked at learning who that had been.

"Positive. He ran the procedure down perfectly. He was expecting a meet."

"All right..." Amanda nodded, then asked thoughtfully "Why would the KGB station chief wanna meet you?"

Lee shook his head. "That's a good question. And maybe Francine will have an answer later – but right now I'm left wondering if there's something about Sonja I don't know. Do you think Rostov doesn't know she's been stringing me all this time?" he wondered out loud. "Why would he be setting up his own meet?"

"Well, I'm sure I have no idea," said Amanda, "But I don't like it. Do you think you should check in with Billy before you go over there tonight?"

Lee thought for a moment, then shook his head again. "No – we're on a schedule to get these frequencies to her. But it does mean I'm going to play for a little longer tonight than I'd planned- I wanna see if she'll slip up and show me if she's running her own game here." He grimaced. "And if she's not, Rostov is probably running straight off to tell her you were here with me. That could be tricky."

Amanda's face fell. "You're right. We shouldn't have taken the chance at being seen together. It was dumb."

"No, it's fine," Lee answered soothingly. "I can play it up – tell her I was late because you wanted to meet up and then that delayed me – what with you begging me to come back to you, that sort of thing."

"Excuse me? I begged?" Amanda arched an eyebrow at him.

"It would be statistically valid for you to want to keep your claws in me – you know, for a woman of your age," Lee said, eyes twinkling and tongue firmly in cheek.

"A woman of my age! Oh, you-" Amanda reached to swat him.

"Just quoting the numbers, Honey," he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, dimples dancing on his cheeks.

"I'll do a number on you, just wait," grumbled Amanda unconvincingly.

"I'll look forward to that," he grinned, teasing an answering smile out of her across the table.

"Me too," she replied.


	5. Side Couple

It turned out to be hours before Francine could crack open O'Reilly's transcript and see what all the fuss was about. She'd had to hide it in her desk when she'd gotten word that Rostov was on the move out of the Embassy and she'd had to go follow him. Follow him, it turned out, right into the middle of what looked like Lee and Amanda's dinner date.

Pausing only to roll her eyes that they'd been stupid enough to be seen out together when they were supposed to be broken up for their covers, she'd pulled out her compact camera and snapped a series of pictures of Rostov approaching them. She wished she'd had time to make contact with them to see what that had been all about, but after less than a minute of conversation, Rostov had rushed back out of the restaurant and into his limo back to the embassy.

_If it had been anyone else, I would have said it was a clumsy drop, but nobody is that dumb. _She consoled herself that she'd get all the details from Lee and Amanda tomorrow – when hopefully everything would be in place for the start of the Stemwinder war games.

With Rostov safely back in his apartment, she went back to the Agency to file her report. She'd almost forgotten about the transcript until she went to look for something in the drawer and saw it sitting on the top. Looking around the room to make sure no one was watching, she slipped it onto her desk and flipped it open.

_Stetson: Hey, it's about time – I expected you to call hours ago._

_Unknown: Darling, I could almost believe you missed me._

_Stetson: You know it. Especially that cute little noise you make when you sleep._

_Unknown: People in glass houses should not throw stones – don't forget, I've heard you sing in the shower._

_Stetson: You said you liked my singing._

_Unknown: I never said I liked it, Darling – I said it reminded me of my childhood and the goats on my grandfather's farm._

_Laughter._

Francine stopped reading, her heart pounding. "No," she whispered under her breath. "He is _not_…" She flipped to the front page and studied the translator's notes.

**Phone call to Lee Stetson, Sept 12, 1986. Origin: Berlin. Uncertain if East or West. Caller: Unidentified. Translated from German.**

She grimaced and turned back to the page she'd been reading.

_Unknown: So have you got everything all set up?_

_Stetson: Finished the last details yesterday. I've got the tickets stashed away – wouldn't want anyone to know about it._

_Unknown: You mean not even your Mrs. King knows about it?_

_Stetson: Are you kidding? I'm not sharing this with her. She'd rat me out in a minute._

_Unknown: She wouldn't want to be in on it?_

_Stetson: No way. One tough question and she'd crack like a nut. No, it's just you and me, waiting for the perfect 24 carat payoff of a perfect escape – as simple as falling out of bed."_

_Unknown: Or into it, yes?_

_Laughter._

_Stetson: It's been easier than that – any pressure from either of them and I just pretend to get all grumpy and distract them. It's been working like a charm – and neither of them have figured out I'm involved with you on it._

_Unknown: That's why you're my favorite little eagle **(said in English, possibly a code name?)**_

"Francine, I'm glad you're here. Get your coat."

Francine jumped, startled by Billy's sudden appearance and snapped the report cover shut. "Billy? What are you doing here so late?" she asked.

"I just got a call that Phillip Dart's been found dead in his office. I'm on my way there now."

"Stemwinder frequency Phillip Dart?" she asked in disbelief.

"The very one. I'm glad you're here – I'll need you to help me coordinate the lockdown. I'm going to want to know the second Lee and Amanda check back in for the night – this just turned into a whole lot of serious."

Francine slid the folder back into her drawer and followed Billy out of the bullpen.


	6. Slip, Slide and Jerk

** Tuesday **

Lee's voice was warm, inviting and incredibly seductive.

"_Just like falling into bed."_

"He was undercover!" Amanda shouted, turning off the tape player.

"So to speak" retorted Francine, sarcastically.

Amanda could barely contain herself, torn in a million different directions of panic, confusion and right now, outright fury at Francine. If Francine gave her even just one more of those pitying looks as if she was somehow crazy to be defending Lee, she might actually slap her. The interrogation had been stressful, but it had been nothing compared to Francine taking her aside earlier as they'd left the Tactical room after Dr. Smyth.

"_How are you doing?"_

"_I'd be doing a lot better if everyone here didn't seem to believe that Lee could be a traitor! It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of in my life!"_

"_Amanda, it looks bad, really bad. His fingerprints, the timing of Dart's death, the meeting with Rostov…"_

"_We didn't meet with Rostov – he approached us out of the blue!"_

"_Is that what Lee told you? Were you supposed to be there with him? When anyone could have reported back to the Soviets that you'd been seen together and thrown your entire cover into question?" Francine asked, eyebrow arched._

_Amanda flushed. No, they shouldn't have been seen together, but Lee had picked her up early for the stakeout because they'd had so little time together lately…_

"_Lee was surprised to see him!"_

"_And yet someone must have set up the meet? If you weren't supposed to be there, how do you know it wasn't Lee?"_

"_Francine! Lee is the most patriotic, honourable, trustworthy man I know! I can't believe you're even saying this!"_

"_Well, let's just say I've been around here a lot longer than you and I've seen people turn bad before."_

"_But not Lee! You can't believe he'd do any of this."_

_Francine pressed her lips together and looked troubled._

"_Do you?" Amanda asked, shocked at Francine's silence._

"_Amanda, I've seen something… something that may or may not tie in with all this, but it's possible…"_

"_No, it isn't!"_

_It had been just then, before Amanda could continue to argue, that Billy had come back out of the Tac room and ushered them both to his office._

"Eighty percent confirmed – Lee's handwriting" Francine was saying now.

"It has to be a forgery!" she defended him.

How was it even possible that she had to defend Lee? How could either Billy or Francine believe this was anything but a set-up? Well, Billy seemed to be on her side, at least a bit, but Francine was acting like judge and jury. How could this be the same woman who had joked with her less than a week ago?

"Lee's prints were found all over the safe," Francine added fuel to the fire.

"He never went near the safe, Francine; I was there!"

That did seem to stop Francine for a moment, but then she was on the attack again.

"Well, then, explain how the copy of the secret frequencies ended up in Lee's lover's apartment!"

"She is not his lover!" Amanda could have kicked herself for giving in and shrieking that response, even more so when Francine looked at her, then dropped her gaze again, still with that pitying look that made no sense.

Amanda turned back to Billy who seemed to be the voice of reason – even if his questions sounded like he was suspicious too.

"Now - why did you and Lee meet with Soviet station chief Rostov?"

"We weren't meeting with the station chief, Sir! We were having dinner; he came up to the table, he said something about a limousine, he said he'd made a mistake and he left." She glared at Francine – she'd been there – she must have seen what a short time he'd talked to them. Then, seeing her expression she realized that was how Billy knew about the meeting at all. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying the words that came to mind and turned back to Billy.

"Sir! You have to believe me!"

Billy shook his head and responded slowly. "Amanda, we want to believe you, but it's awfully hard. For instance, Lee's report says that Sonja made her first contact with him while he was having a drink on the way home… but he wasn't! He was having dinner with you!"

Amanda nodded. "Yes, Sir," she confirmed quietly.

"Is this some new habit?"

"It's not exactly a habit, Sir," she began to explain only to be interrupted by Francine's acid tones.

"Oh, well, the bartender says it is - he calls you regulars. Five nights in the last two weeks!"

Amanda glared at her as Billy's phone began to ring. "You know perfectly well we're seeing each other!" she shout-whispered. "Why are you trying to twist this into -"

"Scarecrow!"

She whirled at Billy's exclamation. "Lee?"

Seconds later, she was almost sobbing with relief at the sound of his voice reassuring her, but pulled herself together. "Stemwinder's a mess; Phillip Dart's dead, and they think we killed him for the secret radio frequencies; Dr. Smyth called us both traitors; they've been grilling me for hours."

"Hang on a second…" She could hear him still on the line, but it was a few seconds before he spoke again. "Amanda, it's a set-up."

She looked up at Billy. _I told you_ she thought silently, but he was looking at her impassively.

"It's a crazy tutti-frutti business, Amanda. I gotta go."

There was a click and the dial tone and she choked back a sob.

She sat silently, mulling over Lee's last words to her as she watched Billy organize a man hunt. A man hunt for _Lee_. It simply wasn't possible that 24 hours earlier they'd all been sitting in this same office, all on the same side and now Billy and Francine – the two people she trusted most after Lee – were methodically organizing agents to find and arrest him. Francine had talked to her yesterday as a friend, encouraging her to believe that Lee would never go through with any of the things he'd told Sonja and now she seemed convinced he'd have betrayed his country and skipped town, just for a fling with a younger woman. A tutti-frutti world indeed.

And in that moment, she knew what Lee wanted her to do.


	7. Everybody Promenade

T.P., at least, was just as cheerful as ever and evidently had none of the suspicions that everyone at the Agency seemed to have. He'd looked quite gleeful when Amanda had told him about Lee's clue to bring her there and somehow impressed that she had managed to drag such a large entourage in her wake. Well, that was good – one person was on their side anyway, and if anyone could help them clear their names, it was T.P. and his circle of informants and confidantes. As he confirmed Lee's suspicions about Andrei Makarov, she began to breathe easier. That little voice at the back of her head that had begun whispering _"But what if?_" was silenced – it was more proof that Lee had been working more than one angle on this case. Even if she still didn't quite understand the connection between this Makarov guy and Sonja, at least it was clear Lee had been pursuing that lead – and he wouldn't have been doing that if he'd been interested in pursuing Sonja, would he?

T.P.'s portable phone rang and her heart leapt back into hyper drive; it took everything in her power not to launch herself across the table and grab it from him. And then blessedly, he had passed her the phone and Lee was there sounding confident and calm and directing her on exactly what to do next and why and although it was taking everything in her not to demand to know where he was and go to him, she could see the sense in what he was saying. If he thought she was in danger, it would be a distraction, one he could do without right now as he fought invisible enemies to save himself. The best thing she could do was go home as he asked and stay safe…

"I need time to play one more card. Be careful," Lee finished up, then paused a beat, a long heartbeat where she wondered if he'd been cut off. "I love you."

"What?" she replied in disbelief, but the sound of dead air and then a dial tone was all the reply she got.

She handed the phone back to T.P., shocked into silence by that declaration.

"Are you alright, Amanda?" asked T.P. solicitously.

"Yes, I- I'm fine," she stammered. "Lee just said he-" She just barely stopped herself from blurting out Lee's last words. She needed to hug those to herself for a moment until she could process them – why here, why now, why like that?

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

_Why didn't I say it back?_

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

"He just said he wanted me to go home – get out of everyone's way." She looked around the park. "Take my collection of spies with me…"

"That's a very good idea," T.P. stated. "As long as you're in motion and being tailed, the Russians - or Makarov if he's acting alone – will find it very difficult to harm you. And if the Agency thinks you'll lead them somewhere, they're also unlikely to throw you into a cell just yet."

"A cell?" Amanda's face went pale and her eyes widened. "Why would they put me in a cell?"

T.P. shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look. "The powers that be tend to see things in a very black and white way, Amanda, by which I mean, how it would look in black and white on the front page of the Washington Post."

"But why- "

"And if it gets out about the failure of Stemwinder – and it will – and they have not already locked up everyone who could have been even the slightest bit involved, well, you can imagine how that will play in the press."

"Oh my gosh!"

"Now don't you worry – if Lee told you what to do, he must have a plan. That boy always has a plan, doesn't he?"

Amanda nodded, cheered slightly by the comforting twinkle in T.P.'s eye. "He said he needed time and he had one last card to play."

"Well, there you go. He has something in motion and the best thing you could do is exactly what he said."

Amanda looked around, absently noting all the people surrounding them who carefully looked another direction when she looked their way. _They're your safety blanket. _She stood up and held out her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Aquinas. I hope to see you again soon."

T.P. shook her hand firmly. "I have absolutely no doubt you will, Mrs. King." He looked around at the watching agents. "And don't you worry – I'll let our friends out there know everything I found out about Makarov. And I'll keep beating the bushes to find a connection to Lee's friend, Ms. Chenko."

"She's not-"

"His friend?" finished T.P. "Quite right. I misspoke. Lee chooses his friends more wisely than that." He squeezed her hand again. "And keep the faith, Mrs. King– he still has many friends. If there's something to find there, we'll find it. And Lee knows how to find me."

Amanda nodded again, her throat too tight to speak now. She moved toward her car, glancing back just once to see T.P. being swarmed by agents, then climbed into the Wagoneer and pulled away from the curb.

She didn't know how much time Lee would need, but drove slowly, not just because she wanted the trailing agents to keep up, but also because the fatigue was setting in. She'd fallen asleep from pure exhaustion for a short period between getting back to the Agency and being taken for that horrifying interrogation this morning, but it was too little sleep in the past 24 hours and she knew she needed to think more clearly.

"_Amanda, I've seen something…"_

Francine's words from earlier drifted into her head and she wondered idly what she could possibly have seen that would have shaken her faith in Lee. Amanda shook her head again; she shouldn't even be surprised – despite Lee's joke about this being no job for a pessimist, Francine's default was to believe the worst of absolutely everyone. Amanda didn't think Francine herself would ever willingly betray her country or her friends, but something in her history made her predisposed to think everyone else would.

"I wonder if she thinks I'm in on it or just stupid?" she asked out loud.

As she slowed to let a city bus back into traffic along Massachusetts Avenue, she paid no attention at first to the ad on the back of the bus facing her. The moment she realized it was an ad for legal aid for people with low income, her mind took a sideways leap.

"I should call Joe," she exclaimed. "He needs to know about this before it blows up on him at work."

With a quick glance to make sure her entourage was sticking with her, she pulled into a small shopping center and headed for the bank of payphones. Digging a quarter out of her purse, she dialed the number at the EAO, praying that he'd be in this office this late in the day. Even as she thought it, she rolled her eyes; of course he would, Joe's dedication to long hours at work is exactly what broke them up in the first place.

"King speaking," Joe answered.

"Joe, it's me. Now look, I don't have long so I need you to listen fast, ok? I'm in trouble, well maybe not me, but Lee."

"Lee? Lee Stetson?" he interrupted.

"Yes, Lee Stetson. They think he did something bad and he didn't, Joe, I know he didn't, but they're after him and well anyway, I might need a lawyer."

"Amanda! I'm not that kind of lawyer!" Joe exclaimed. "And how do you know he didn't?"

"For the same reason I knew you didn't murder the Prime Minister last year," she snapped. "Joe, he didn't do it."

Joe sighed in resignation "Okay. So what do you need?"

"Well, I might need you to be at the end of my one phone call if it comes to that, but really I just want to know you'll look after Mother and the boys," she said.

"It's that bad?" he asked.

"It might be," she answered. She glanced up in time to see a woman walk up to the phone beside hers and dial. Recognizing her as one of the people in the park by T.P., she frowned and raised her voice defiantly. "But neither of us did anything wrong and it's all just a set-up."

"How did you end up in this mess anyway?"

"Sweetheart, I promise I'll explain but not just yet, okay? I just needed you to know in case they come to you," she said urgently. "I have to go. I'll be in touch as soon as I can."

She hung up and waked away, climbing back into her car, and taking a deep breath. _Okay gang, here we go again._


	8. Left Foot Forward

"Do you know who she called?" Billy asked. He was sitting in the Agency sedan, car phone on speaker, watching agents comb through the alleyway behind the grocery store.

"_No, we couldn't get a fix on it quickly enough, but we got someone close enough to hear the end of it. She was telling them it was a set-up."_

From the passenger seat, Francine gave him a look. "She's sticking to that story pretty firmly," she said.

"_Oh! And who ever she called, she called them Sweetheart,"_ added the agent on the phone. _"Said she'd be in touch with them soon."_

"Sweetheart?" mused Billy. "One of her sons maybe?"

"I doubt that," said Francine. "She's not going to tell an eight-year-old she's in trouble."

"Francine, they're not still eight," said Billy. "But you're right, she wouldn't tell them anyway. So a boyfriend then? Do we know if she's seeing someone?"

"I thought she was seeing…" Francine stopped and clicked her teeth together.

"Yeah," Billy nodded. "So did I."

"What about her ex-husband? They're still close. Maybe she was looking for legal advice?"

Billy nodded again. "That could be it. If she's worried about being taken away from her children, she'd want their father to know."

"_Sir? Anything else you want us to do?"_ asked the agent on speaker.

"Just keep following her," said Billy. "We've lost our only lead on Scarecrow and she's our best chance to find him."

He pressed the button to disconnect the call and looked over at Francine. "It may all be for nothing. He's too good not to know we'd wait for her to lead us straight to him. Then again, I doubt he'd stay away if he thought she was in trouble."

"Are you sure?" asked Francine. Seeing the incredulous look on Billy's face, she stammered out her suspicions. "I think he's cheating on her."

"Are you out of your mind?" asked Billy. "They live in each other's pockets."

"I saw a transcript of a call he made this week," she replied. "It was a translation of a call from someone in Germany – full of 'darlings' and things like that. Not the kind of call you'd have with someone you weren't… you know."

"Someone in Germany? When would they even have met?" Billy inquired.

"Well, we don't know how long he's known her – he spent time there growing up," Francine pointed out. "And he was there for weeks this summer."

"And spent every phone call complaining about how he wanted to get home and asking me how Amanda was doing," Billy responded. "That doesn't make any sense."

"The thing is – when I first read it, it just seemed like the usual tawdry lovers' chat," Francine went on, frowning. "But now, with all this going on, there was something else – he talked about hiding something from Amanda because she'd turn him in if she knew. What if… what if this whole Stemwinder thing has been in the works since then?"

"I can't believe that," Billy shook his head. "It all goes against everything I know about Lee Stetson."

"It does," Francine nodded. "Unless he's been playing the longest con of all time. What if he's been an embedded enemy agent all this time?"

"You don't believe that," said Billy, "do you?"

"I don't want to believe it, but stranger things have happened," she pointed out. "Look at John Walker."

Billy flinched at the reminder. Walker's arrest, along with his children, the previous year had rocked the Navy and the intelligence community to its core. "You're right, they have," he nodded. "But my gut has been saying there's something wrong with this from the moment we found Philip Dart – Amanda swears he was alive when they left and that they were only there long enough to collect the frequencies – it just doesn't add up."

"Unless she's lying for him," said Francine bluntly. "We know she does that all the time."

"About a murder?" asked Billy in disbelief. "Or are you suggesting Amanda actually helped him with that too?"

Francine shrugged. "I don't want to – but Walker recruited his whole damn family into selling secrets to the Russians. Is it so crazy to think that Amanda could be so twisted up in his lies that she'd help him with that if he asked?

"Yes," said Billy bluntly. "It is, and you know it."

"Look, I don't want to believe it either, but Lee's on the run, we have proof that he's conspiring with someone in Germany, we have twenty agents tailing Amanda around the suburbs while she purposely leads them on a wild goose chase and we just heard that she called some unknown sweetheart to tell them she's in trouble and will be looking for help soon." Francine lifted a brow and stared at Billy. "Does it sound any less crazy now?"

Billy stared at her for a long beat, before slumping in defeat. "How the hell did we end up here?"


	9. Conga Line

_How did we end up here?_ thought Amanda as she continued to drive.

She looked at her watch and realized she'd been driving for two hours. Was that enough time for Lee to have pulled off whatever it was he was planning? It was odd, she thought, that he hadn't given her a hint of where they should meet next. He'd been clear enough about going to find T.P., but maybe there'd been something else embedded in that last call? She'd been so distracted by the '_I love you'_ that she really hadn't considered the rest of the call. She pushed those three words aside for the moment and concentrated. What had he told her to do?

_You've got to go home._

_Let me help you._

_No. All you can do now is lead them to me. You are in danger._

_You've got to go home._

_Take the long way. Don't lose them. They're your security blanket._

_Be careful._

_I love you_.

Amanda slammed on the brakes so hard that the agent three car lengths back almost ran into her.

"He wouldn't!" she exclaimed. "He wouldn't do that to me!"

_Never leave it unsaid, in case you don't get another chance._

She lifted her foot off the brake and the car started to move forward slowly. She was thinking frantically as she picked up speed, seeing new meaning to everything Lee had said in that call.

** _Go home_ ** _. Stay in the car. **I love you**. Goodbye._

Despite everything, she simply couldn't believe he'd leave her with that little, not after everything they'd been through together. She continued to replay the brief phone conversation over and over in her head as she drove, until she found herself turning onto Maplewood Drive. Her various tails had dropped back as she approached home, obviously aware that they were far too conspicuous in a quiet residential area and she was in the driveway and running inside before the first of them even reached the corner.

For just a moment, as the door swung shut behind her, there was that instant of blessed peace. She was safe, she was home, the scent of baking cookies in the air and the soft sounds of her mother and Jamie teasing each other in the kitchen.

"Hi, Mom!" Jamie sang out, looking up to greet her with a smile.

For a beat, she just stared at him, completely off-kilter. It seemed incredible to her that the last twenty-four hours had upended her entire life and meanwhile, her mother and Jamie were baking cookies.

"Hi, Sweetheart," she managed to get out and feeling faint, moved to the sink to get a glass of water.

Not just baking cookies, she discovered a moment later as her mother began to ramble about her plans for the evening. Amanda gulped at the water and nodded absently at her. _The man I love told me he loved me and disappeared and nothing here is different at all, _she thought. _How could they not have noticed the world is ending?_

"Listen, did anybody call me while I was gone? "Anybody drop by?" she began firing questions at them, but her mother shook her head to every question. "Anything weird happen in the neighborhood?" It seemed unlikely they'd have noticed if they were under surveillance she though with a flash of black humor – goodness knew they'd never noticed it in all the times they'd been watched before.

"Yeah," said Jamie unexpectedly.

She swung to look at him. "What, Sweetheart?"

"Andy Gaskill swallowed a live toad and blacked out," Jamie said, obviously relishing in the misery of others. "Phillip's over there now."

Amanda huffed out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh as her mother began to babble on again about her outfit for the evening. Amanda could feel it all closing in on her. "Okay, wait! Hold it. Wait. Hold it, please!" She held up her hands, begging for silence, watching as Dotty and Jamie turned surprised faces toward her. "I'm sorry. Let's just have a family meeting, okay? Drop everything, will ya? Put everything down, just for a second." She put down her own glass and grasped the counter to calm herself. _Where to even begin? The beginning, I guess._

"Now, look… a man that I work with is, uh, having some problems… all right? Now, his name is Stetson—Lee Stetson. You've talked to him on the phone before, Mother."

Dotty looked at her with sudden interest. "I thought it was Steadman."

"No, it's Stetson, Mother." She nodded at her mother, willing her to just _listen_. "At any rate, there may be some people who come by to talk to us, and they'll be Federal Agents. And they may want to ask us a few questions."

Both of them were staring at her intently now and Amanda scrambled to think what she could tell them. It was such second nature now to lie to them, but any minute now, agents could come knocking at the front door. She knew what she was going to have to do and they needed to be prepared.

"And, uh, well, they think that Mr. Stetson may have given away a few things that he shouldn't have."

Her mother was eyeing her the way she always did when she thought Amanda was exaggerating for effect, but Jamie cut right to the chase.

"Like what?"

"Secrets, Sweetheart."

Dotty shook her head in exasperation. "Amanda, aren't you being just a little melodramatic?"

"Mother, I'm exhausted," she sighed. "I work for IFF. IFF works for the government. The government has secrets. Okay?"

"Like, what kinda secrets?" asked Jamie doggedly.

Amanda had to smile; she knew he came by that focus honestly. "Nice try, Sherlock. A secret's a secret. Look—why don't you just give your brother a call and ask him to come home? Would you do that for me?"

As Jamie wandered off to do as she asked, Dotty fixed her gaze on her daughter. "Amanda? You're not mixed up with any of these federal agents, are you?"

She couldn't do it – she just couldn't lie even one more time. But she knew those agents would be here shortly and the less her family knew, the better off they'd be.

"Oh Mother," she sighed. She grabbed Dotty's hand and kissed it, with no further answer, and turned to race upstairs.

_Ten minutes. I probably have ten minutes until they get here. I just need to calm down Mother and then I can slip out the back and figure out how I'm going to find Lee._

Caught up in trying to figure out if the Agency would already have closed down her bank accounts or if she could get some cash, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings as she burst into her bedroom and it took a full beat of her heart before she realized what she was seeing.

"Oh! Gosh! Lee!"

He surged upright with a look of pure panic before he realized who it was.

So caught up in her relief that he was there, that he hadn't left after all, it took her a moment to take in what he was saying.

"I came to say goodbye."

"What do you mean goodbye?" she asked, brow wrinkling in confusion. She'd thought the phone call was good-bye, but he was here now, he'd come for her… hadn't he? "I'm all tangled up in this too!" she interrupted him. Why was he talking as if he was fighting this alone? So what if he couldn't go to Billy? He'd come to her and together, they could fight anything.

"Don't you see? As long as I'm out there on the loose, I can try and do something that'll clear us. I've got to find Alexi before he goes under himself. Now—I may be gone a while."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes."

"Oh," she nodded. That made sense – they might not be able to fight this Makarov fellow out in the open, but she had no doubt Lee knew his way around the shadows just as well as his enemy. She started to mentally prepare a speech for her mother, some kind of explanation of why she was about to disappear, but looked up as Lee hesitated then began to speak again, his voice gentler now.

"Amanda, I meant what I said on the phone. I just want you to know that before I go. I love you. I have for a very, very long time. I just… I was just never ready to… you know."

"I know," she smiled up at him, smoothing his lapels absent-mindedly. She did know, more than anyone else in the world, she thought what demons Lee fought to keep from being truly close to people, but he'd shown her he loved her long before he ever uttered that _I love you_.

They both stilled, listening to the sounds of agents arriving downstairs and Dotty's voice raised in exasperation.

"They're going to be up here in a minute," he warned her.

"Now—wait a minute. You can't just walk into my life, hand me a package, tell me to give it to the man in the red hat, tell me that you love me and walk out of my life again," she scolded him gently. If they were about to be cornered, he needed to know how she felt.

"No," he agreed, pulling her in for a long kiss. In that instant, the world fell away and there was nothing but the two of them – and then much too soon, Lee pulled away.

"I'll get word to you," he promised.

_Wait, what? No! He's talking like he thinks I'm staying behind! How did he not understand?_

"I'm going with you," she stated. It seemed so obvious to her that they needed to stay together, that allowing the situation to separate them was giving Makarov exactly what he needed. How could Lee think she'd just stay here?

"No!"

"Yes!"

_This is ridiculous_, she thought, even as they bickered back and forth, urgency increasing with the noise levels downstairs.

"Look!" she stopped him in mid-argument. "I'm gonna watch your tail, just like I always do. We work best together as a team, and besides that, we don't know what Alexi's gonna do next—it might be dangerous for my family for me to stay here, and I can't do anything to help them from an Agency holding cell!" she said with finality. Even in the midst of all this, she could see the gleam of amusement in his eyes appear at her rambling explanation, and she knew he'd capitulated even before she paused to take breath.

"And I love you, too," she added and watch his face light up as he laughed.

_How typical_ she thought. _We spend three years dancing around each other and finally blurt out our feelings at the worst possible time._

"I guess it's your tail, too," he agreed, leaning in to kiss her once again before taking her hand and heading for the window.


	10. Chassé

** Wednesday **

"I still can't believe they jumped out a window like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," sighed Francine. "The house was surrounded by agents and they just… got away?"

"Turns out it wasn't surrounded at all," answered Billy ruefully. "The boys on the ground were so convinced they were only cornering Amanda, they didn't take any precautions at all – they just congregated on the front stoop and never thought to block any exits in case Lee was there."

"More fool them," replied Francine. "Even without Lee, I've seen that woman escape through a manhole and cross Paris by sewer with nothing more than good luck."

"We'll be adding that scenario the next set of classes, believe me," said Billy.

"Any chance that's how they got away this time?" asked Francine. "It's hard to believe they could just vanish like this without tunneling out or something."

"They didn't need to do anything," Billy answered, running a hand over his face. "They hit the ground and were over the neighbor's fence and out of sight before Samuels could even do more than yell for help."

"Well, why didn't he go over the fence too?" Francine said in exasperation.

"The Fergusons have a dog," said Billy with a groan. "And it turns out, he's terrified of dogs. I know, I know," he said when Francine turned a look of complete disbelief on him. "Another thing to add to the list for next year's recruit questions."

"So what are we thinking now?" she asked. "Was Amanda in this all along or has he suckered her into it somehow?"

"You're still betting on your long con theory?" he asked.

Francine shrugged. "It's as good as any other theory right now."

"But at what point do we assume he began to groom Amanda for it then?" he asked, leaning across the desk. "When he picked her out of a crowd? When he realized she was staying on? When he realized she had feelings for him? When he realized he'd begun to have feelings for her?"

Francine sat back in her chair and gazed at the ceiling before saying thoughtfully. "You know, we always just took his word for it that he picked her out a crowd, randomly." She dropped her gaze to meet Billy's. "She could be a long time plant as well."

"You don't believe that," he said. "And I am becoming very concerned about how you think."

"No, of course I don't really believe that," she sighed. "But I hate thinking she's given up everything if Lee's a traitor."

"But you don't really believe that either," he said. "You heard Aquinas – it's very likely they've been set up by Alexi Makarov."

"I do want to believe that," she agreed. "But there's still that little matter of a phone call transcript that raises more questions than it answers. And that meeting with Rostov. And the fingerprints on the safe in Dart's office."

"Fine," said Billy, straightening up. "I've had the Q Bureau locked tight since Lee went missing. You and your nasty little suspicions head up there and go through it with a fine tooth comb. And then do the same to Lee's apartment."

Francine nodded and got to her feet. "What about Amanda's house?"

"Oh no," he shook his head. "We are not doing anything more to that family until we are one hundred percent certain she's done something wrong. Obviously we continue to keep an eye on any calls or mail going in or out in case Amanda contacts them, but until we have proof that she's really involved and not just a patsy, we leave her house alone. Her mother was just about out of her mind with worry when I was there this morning and Joe King will have every legal eagle in the city breathing down our necks if we cross the line there. And if we can't find proof on Lee on his own, we are certainly not pursuing innocent civilians. There will enough repercussions for them even if she's just aided and abetted Lee out of misplaced loyalty."

"If Lee is a traitor, it won't just be her family that's facing repercussions," Francine pointed out, hand on the door knob. "His uncle only barely survived that last scandal."

"Could his relationship with his uncle be so bad he turned against his whole country?" Billy speculated, then groaned. "Lord, now you've got me thinking like you and Smyth!"

"Hey! Don't go lumping me in with that old man!" Francine exclaimed. "He's just petty and vindictive. I'm at least attempting to see more than one possibility!"

"Get out of here," Billy ordered, waving her out the door. "Go find me proof Lee Stetson is the man I think he is."

"I'll try," she promised. She hovered in the doorway for a moment until Billy looked back up. "I really do want to be wrong, you know," she said. "I know I usually don't, but this time…"

"I know," he nodded. "Now go get some proof that settles it either way."

* * *

Francine flipped on the light and looked around with a sigh. The Q Bureau was exactly how Lee had left it a few days before. In other words, Amanda's desk was tidy with everything in its place and Lee's looked like a bomb had hit it.

She began with a cursory search of Amanda's space, completely unsurprised when she found absolutely nothing out of place. Family photos, a vase with slightly wilting flowers and drawers full of stationery. No files left out, no notes unaccounted for; Amanda was obviously everything Lee wasn't when it came to organization.

She took a deep breath and walked over to settle herself at Lee's desk. She took a moment to survey the piles, then began to work through them from left to right, figuring anything Lee was working on would be on his dominant side. Two hours later, she had found exactly… nothing. Correction: everything and nothing.

She'd found notes on the case, notes on things to follow up on about Sonja, stuff he'd obviously pulled from old files on Makarov. Everything that said Lee had been doing everything he'd said he'd been doing for the last two weeks and nothing that incriminated him.

"If he was setting it up to make himself look innocent, he couldn't have done a better job," she muttered to herself. "It's almost suspiciously perfect."

She sat back and stared around the room, trying once again to piece together the things she knew and as always, it came back to Amanda. If Lee had been planning on throwing his life away on this roll of the dice, then what was Amanda's place in all this? If she'd been involved in it with him, then why had he left her behind to face the music that night? And if she hadn't been involved, then why had he come back for her? None of it made any sense; every time they came up with something that proved one side of the story, something else popped up to prove exactly the opposite. Billy seemed certain Lee was innocent, Smyth was equally certain he was a traitor, and here she was, stuck in the middle getting nothing but conflicting information. Her heart told her Billy was right, but her head told her that she'd been fooled before and not to let it happen again.

_It's like a Russian novel_, she thought, then laughed out loud. _If Lee is to be believed, that's exactly what this is._

The phone on the desk rang, making her jump. She reached for it automatically, then paused. Who would be calling Lee now? A split second later, she was lifting the receiver.

"IFF, Francine Desmond."

The grunt of confusion at the end of the line sent her spy senses tingling, until the next sound she heard was a warm chuckle she knew and a soft voice.

"Ach, did I dial the wrong number, _liebling_?"

"Dieter? Is that you?" She couldn't help smiling once she realized who it was. "It's so good to hear your voice."

Again that laugh came down the line. "Well, I hope there isn't anyone else calling you _liebling_. Although to be honest, I thought I was calling Lee – I must have dialled your number by habit."

"No, you were right – I'm sitting at his desk, looking for… looking for something."

"Is everything alright?" Obviously something in her tone had alerted him to her mood. She huffed out a small laughing sigh. It was so typical that Dieter still gave off that bemused aura of not knowing exactly what was going on and then could turn around and hear the tiniest tremor in her voice.

"No, everything's kind of gone to hell in a handbasket right now, but I can't tell you about it."

"Ah, I understand. We have heard rumors, _ja_? But I didn't realize the Agency was involved."

"Up to our necks," she sighed. "But-"

"But you cannot talk about it," he finished her sentence for her. "But will you still be celebrating this weekend?"

"Celebrating a success, you mean? Not likely."

Dieter's laugh came down the line. "Ach, it must be bad if you have forgotten what Saturday is, _liebling_."

She frowned for a moment, trying to decipher his meaning, then her eye fell on Lee's desk calendar, and the words "F. birthday" scrawled across Saturday's date. "Oh for God's sake – I'd completely forgotten," she exclaimed.

"What a good thing you have me to remind you," he quipped.

"You're assuming I enjoy being reminded I'm getting older," she replied.

"And more beautiful every day," he answered immediately.

"You're such a charmer," she sighed. "But I'm almost 40 now – you don't have to feed me compliments"

"40?" queried Dieter in confusion "I thought you were only going to be 33?"

"33 and headed for 40," she answered. "Anything after 30 is downhill– my girlish days are behind me now."

Dieter was openly laughing now. "Why are you _mies drauf_ about this? You don't want to be a girl, now do you? You are a woman, and that is so much better."

"Well, this week is making me feel very old," she said.

"Lee said much the same thing when we talked the other day," he commiserated. "Not a good week for any of you, hmm?"

"No, and I can't-"

"Talk about it," he chorused along with her. "But are you alright? You sound tired."

"I'm exhausted," she admitted. "So what have you and Lee been chatting about so much this week?"

"Oh, this and that," he teased. "Need to know, _ja_?" He laughed again at the small sound of irritation that answer provoked from her. "Lee will tell you all about it when the time is right."

"No he won't," she answered without thinking. "He's gone."

"Gone?" Dieter had gone from laughing to alert. "He didn't mention that when we talked. He said he was one day away from being done with his case. Is he on vacation?"

Francine scrambled to cover her slip. "No, on assignment. He's gone away and I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"Oh," responded Dieter. "That is inconvenient."

"I'll say," she agreed, hollowly.

"So if you are all busy, your birthday will be a little delayed, _ja_?" he asked.

"Yep, I can pretend to be 32 for a few extra days," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

"_Gut_," said Dieter. "I like dating a younger woman."

"Jerk," she answered, a real smile on her face now.

"Hedgehog," he said, his voice softening.

"I thought Lee was your hedgehog," she teased.

"A man can have two, especially if one is very small. But you are my favorite."

She could picture the urbane little shrug that accompanied his retort. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Only the ones who have nefarious intentions," he laughed down the phone line.

"Good, because I don't like to share," she replied.

"I thought that was just chocolate?" he said.

"It's mostly chocolate," she agreed, "but Lee already has Amanda, he doesn't need you too." She went quiet as she remembered everything that was going on. "I wish you were here."

"I will talk with you on the weekend, _ja_? Wish you a real happy birthday?" he said, sensing her withdrawal.

"Yes, please," she said. "Hopefully, by then, all this will be done."

She couldn't bear to think of the alternative.


	11. Hold Your Partner

Amanda cricked her neck and leaned back against the sofa cushions in the bare bones room that the Traveller's Friends had provided them. Lee sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms with a sigh.

"How are you doing? It's been a hell of a couple of days."

"I wouldn't have thought I could sleep as well as I did in a cardboard box, but I can feel every bruise," she admitted. "Even den mothers are used to having a blow-up mattress when we camp out."

"In 'Nam, I learned to sleep through almost anything," he said. "And in the mud, to boot."

"I guess I should be happy my box was dry then," she chuckled. "But how are you doing?" she asked in turn, running a finger down his cheek. "At least I got some sleep last night, but you were gone most of it."

"Good thing I was," he said. "It meant we got the cash and some guns before the Agency got to my family."

Amanda nodded. "So what's the plan?"

"Hit a thrift store and get some different clothes. Pick up our transport. Establish a cover that lets us move around. Get hold of T.P."

"That's a long list," she commented. "Okay, so what's first?" She moved to stand up and start working on it, only to be pulled back down into Lee's lap.

"Well, a lot of it is underway because of stuff I got set up that first night before they got to my family, but first? We get some sleep," he answered, pulling her in for a deep kiss.

"Sleep? Shouldn't we be doing something?" she answered when they came up for air.

"Sleep is something," he said firmly. "Remember what I told you years ago? You tend to stay alive longer that way. Now come on," he shifted her off his lap and tugged her to her feet. "Let's see how lumpy this pull-out bed is."

"It will be a million times better than last night," Amanda said, reaching to help him.

"Always the silver lining," he smiled at her.

They worked in silence, rapidly assembling the bed and putting on the sheets and blankets that had been left in a neat pile for them. Amanda stepped back, hands on her hips and surveyed the bed before saying "Actually, sleep is second." She began undoing his belt.

"Oh really?" said Lee, with a wolfish grin as he started to help her. "What's first?"

Amanda started on his shirt buttons. "A shower," she said, firmly. "You stink, and I'm not much better."

Lee couldn't hold in the snort of laughter even as he acknowledged the truth of that statement. He pushed her hands away and took over undressing himself.

Amanda walked to the bathroom and started the water going. "Leave me some hot water," she ordered.

"You don't want to share?" he teased back. "I'll scrub your back."

Amanda eyed the small tub. "Not a chance. It's barely big enough for just you. Neither of us will get clean if we try and both fit."

Lee smiled in agreement, kissing her lightly before stepping under the hot water with a groan of pleasure. Thirty minutes later, they were both scrubbed clean and had toppled onto the pull-out bed, Amanda curled into the warmth of his arms.

"I love you," he murmured.

"I love you too."

He felt more than heard the stifled chuckle that rippled through her body and lifted his head to look at her. "What?"

"I know you aren't always good at expressing yourself," she twinkled up at him. "But on the phone? Under life and death pressure?"

Lee grimaced. "I'm sorry. I just thought… I didn't know…"

"If you'd have another chance?" she nodded. "Yeah, I figured that out – and I would have done the same."

"No you wouldn't," he answered, pulling her close to rest his lips against her cheek. "You would have said it long before now."

It was her turn to pull back and look into his eyes. "I haven't though. I wanted to, but I was chicken and I didn't."

Lee's crooked grin gleamed in the shaded room. "Yeah, you did," he said, "You told me every day." He reached to pull the blanket over her. "Now go to sleep."

Amanda settled into his embrace and was quiet for a moment, but he could feel she was still tense under the weight of his arms. He waited – he knew she'd tell him once she'd figured out whatever was worrying her. He turned toward her when he heard her take a breath and looked at her expectantly.

She gave him a small smile when she saw he was waiting, but it vanished instantly replaced by a small furrow in her forehead. "With all the things we need to do… I know it seems small, but…" she glanced up and met his reassuring look. "I really do need to get a message home."

"I know," he nodded.

"No, you don't," she said insistently. "I need to tell them… they need to know…" Her throat closed up with tears.

Lee seized her hand and kissed her palm, then gave her a tender look. "Amanda," he said gently. "I do know. I know better than anyone." When she stiffened slightly and it looked like she'd contradict him, he went on. "You need to tell them that we're not traitors, and that we didn't do any of the things they're saying we did. You need to tell them that you love them."

"Yeah," she whispered, finally letting some tears leak out. "They won't understand. I've lied to them all this time and I don't know what Joe is going to tell them or what any of those agents at the house yesterday told them."

"Joe will tell them what they need to know and Billy won't let just any agent talk to your family," he comforted her. "He probably took care of it himself, and you know he wouldn't-"

"Why wouldn't he?" she blurted out. "He thinks we're traitors too!"

"But he knows your mother and the boys aren't," Lee pointed out. "And there's still a need to keep it all secret, even if he thinks the worst about us."

"Do you think he does? Think the worst of us?" she asked, diverted for a moment.

"I hope not. That's another thing on my list," he replied. "I need to figure out a way to talk to him." Lee rolled more fully so that he could lever himself up on his elbow to look at her. "Amanda, I lived this – I won't let Jamie and Phillip go through what I did."

"You won't?"

"Not if I can do anything to prevent it," he promised. "I was only five years old and didn't really understand what happened to my parents and everyone around me did a damn good job of covering it up for years."

"But Phillip and Jamie aren't-"

"Aren't five," he nodded. "I know. They'll hear more and they're smart enough to figure it out. If we're not there to explain it, eventually they'll find out what people are saying unless they hear it from you." he leaned in to kiss her lightly. "You brought me through finding out the truth about my parents – I don't want the boys to go through anything like that."

Amanda lifted a hand and drew one finger down his cheek. "You really do understand, don't you?"

Lee turned his head and kissed her fingertip. "I really do." He gave her a quick grin. "So do you want me to give T.P. something to pass along?"

Amana thought for a moment. "No, I think I know where they'll be. When Phillip's stressed, he needs to do something physical, so he won't go straight home after school. They'll probably go the youth center."

"They'll have a whole string of agents watching them," Lee warned her. "You can't talk to them."

"I know," she nodded and he could hear the heartbreak in her voice. "But if I can't slip something to them, I'm sure I can find a man in the red hat to do it for me, right?"

Lee's heart broke a little bit too hearing the courage it took for her to joke about it. "I'm sure you can. But for now, I want you to nap – an hour, no more, I promise. Then I'll go start on that other stuff while you write your notes, okay?"

Amanda nodded and pulled him back down to the pillow.

This time, they slept.


	12. Swingers

** Thursday **

Francine had taken refuge in Pfaff's office, not because she needed psychiatric help, but because he had a couch and a lock on the door and she was exhausted. They'd been following up leads all day and nothing was making any sense, but the Soviet damage to the Stemwinder program was rippling out faster and faster. Add to that the embarrassment of being outsmarted by Lee and Amanda at the meet that day and Smyth had almost gone into an apoplectic rage, but without a handy target, he was making everyone's lives miserable in an even distribution of threats and insults.

All day as she'd worked, something had been niggling at her, something she'd heard or read – she couldn't pin it down as it danced around the periphery of her consciousness. Eventually she'd dragged herself down here, begged for an aspirin and twenty minutes sleep and Pfaff, no fool when it came to negative effects of sleep deprivation, had graciously made himself scarce, promising to come wake her, pointedly adding it would be in thirty, not twenty, minutes.

He was as good as his word, but the sleep was fitful and not very helpful. She woke up almost as tired as when she'd put her head down. It had been disturbed by dreams of watching a dishevelled and distraught Lee diving through that window in the grocery store, desperate to get away from her and Billy.

"Feeling any better?" asked Pfaff, offering her a glass of water.

"Not really," she admitted. "I'm having a hard time processing all this. If anyone had told me a week ago that Lee Stetson would be on the run for treason, I would have laughed, but now?" She looked up and studied the doctor. "Did you and all your mind voodoo ever seen anything in him that would have predicted this?"

"Honestly?" he answered. "Not in a million years."

"And yet here we are," she sighed.

"So you think he's really defecting?" asked Pfaff, sitting back in his chair. "Even though you've known him for what? Ten years?"

"About that," she nodded. "And I wouldn't have said so, but he _ran_. And that alone is weird - Lee never runs from anything."

"Now that I agree with," said Pfaff. "His profile has always been one of a man who runs at problems, sometimes without thinking it through. So what do you think? Is he running from something here or towards a solution?"

Francine gazed at him through narrowed eyes. "Are you doing your shrink thing on me?"

"I suppose I am," he admitted. "But I prefer to think of it as helping you work through something that's bothering you. So talk me through it - what's making you doubt Scarecrow's loyalty?"

Francine paused to think, then asked "Off the record?"

Pfaff nodded. "As long as it isn't anything criminal, I can keep it between us."

Francine nodded back. "The thing is, his loyalty is the last thing I would ever have doubted before this week. Even in the early days when Amanda drove him crazy, he always defended her to anyone else. Well, to me at least." She wrinkled her nose. "I wasn't always very nice to her in those days."

"He is remarkably protective of his partner," Pfaff agreed.

"He is," Francine agreed. "And that's why I can't figure out the phone call."

"The phone call?"

"There's a transcript from a call he had last week. I've only seen the translation but it's out of Germany somewhere. The conversation is mostly them talking about something secret they've set up, that they're keeping secret from Amanda."

"And that makes you think he was planning this all along?"

"But if he was, why take Amanda with him now? After keeping it secret for so long? He knows she has strong family ties here. And if he was planning for her to go with him, who is the woman in Germany who keeps calling him Darling?"

Pfaff drummed his fingers against his lips. "That does seem to be a conundrum. If he had a lover across the Iron Curtain, it would make very little sense to drag Mrs. King along with him. Unless you think he's using her as a shield somehow? That the Agency would think twice about harming her?"

Francine shook her head. "It makes no sense. The two of them have a bond I can't explain - he managed to find her in an unmapped sewer with nothing to go on but a feeling, for heaven's sake!"

"He went underground willingly?" asked Pfaff in surprise.

"He didn't like it, but he didn't hesitate - not when he thought Amanda was in danger."

They were both silent for a moment.

"I can see why you're confused," said Pfaff, finally. "It's like there are two Scarecrows in play and the two don't jibe."

"No, they don't. And why now? Four years ago, just after Andy died, when he was a shell of his old self? I could see him doing it then - he was so angry and defensive and it seemed like he had a death wish. But since Amanda came along, he's been so much better - more like the Lee I met when I joined the Agency."

"What was he like then?"

Francine thought about it for a moment. "Some things are the same; he was flirty and funny and he seemed to love his job but even then he had two sides. He had a work side that was all focus and intelligence and bravery and a party side that was more social butterfly - he didn't seem to care about anything deeply. He dated girls once or twice, then never again."

"You dated him didn't you?"

"I did, but it was never meant to be. He was off kilter from losing Andy and I think we used each other a little to get over it. Andy was like Amanda - the kind of person everyone gravitates around. Losing him left a big hole in the middle of our group. Anyway, after that, Lee was more aloof and defensive - quicker to get angry, quicker to let himself get riled by stupid little things."

"Oh, I know that Lee well," Pfaff smiled. "Every time he's sent in here, he's always huffy like I'm going to pull a fast one and get him in trouble."

Francine laughed. "I know someone who says he's reminds him of a porcupine - always ready to roll up in a ball and shoot spikes at you if you rub him the wrong way. _Mein kleiner Igel, _he calls him." She stopped short, eyes widening as if she'd only just heard what she'd said. "My little hedgehog. Oh my God, it wasn't eagle, it was hedgehog!"

She leapt from the couch and ran to the door, Pfaff's eyes following her in confusion.

"What was an eagle?" he asked the empty air.

People in the hallways took one look at her face and dove out of her way as she raced back to her desk. Yanking the top drawer open, she pulled out the transcript of that phone call and flipped the pages until she found it.

_That's why you're my favorite little eagle._

_Not eagle_, she thought. _Igel._

"I am such an idiot," she said out loud, drawing confused looks from those within earshot.

She picked up the phone and punched in a long distance number from memory, then hunched over her desk and chewed a fingernail while she listened to the rings.

"Volkenauer."

"Dieter, it's me," she said.

"_Liebling_, what's wrong?" His voice had sounded slightly sleepy when he answered, but her tone of voice had obviously brought him wide awake and his tone was sharp now.

"Do you call Lee _liebling_ too?" she asked the first question that sprang to mind.

"Do I what?" he asked, confused. "Francine, you know I'm not…"

"No, sorry – I'm going too fast." She took a deep breath and started again. "Your phone calls with Lee – are they in German?"

"_Ja_," he answered, obviously puzzled. "Mostly anyway."

"And do the two of you have something cooked up that Amanda doesn't know about?"

"Francine, if you're trying to find out what your gift is..."

"Dieter, this is important!" she half-yelled. "Do you?"

"Yes!" he answered, getting grumpy now. "He was helping me plan something for your birthday."

"And you call him _liebling_," she breathed out, as all the pieces began to fall into place.

"Only as a joke about his name," Dieter started to defend himself.

"I know, I know," she cut him off. "I should have realized before now – it didn't make any sense that he'd be cheating on Amanda."

"What are you talking about?" asked Dieter, incredulity making his voice rise. "You thought Lee and I…"

"No, of course not," she answered. "But I didn't know he was talking to a man. I'll explain it all later. Now look, when you last talked to Lee, how did he sound?"

"He sounded like Lee," said Dieter. "No different than usual. On a job he couldn't discuss, looking forward to it being over because it wasn't enjoyable and it made Amanda unhappy, looking forward to surprising you on your birthday. Nothing different at all. Now what is going on?"

"He's in trouble, but I can't explain it just yet." Francine paused, that little niggling feeling back in the shadows of her brain.

_He said he only had one more day._

She sat up straight, eyes wide. "Dieter, when exactly did you last talk to Lee?"

"Exactly? Monday."

"What time Monday? This is really important!"

"Ach, I don't know…" his voice trailed off as he thought. "I called him just after I got home. I stopped for dinner at the _biergarten,_ but I ran into friends so I stayed much longer than usual…" He went silent again, trying to figure it out. "Oh! My neighbor was just taking her dog out when I got home and she does that every night when her radio show is done, so it must have been just after 9 o'clock."

"You called him? Where?"

"Well, at his desk of course - I expected him to be at work since it was the middle of the afternoon."

"You're right," she was nodding now, but trying to stay calm. "So it was shortly after 3 p.m. our time and he was at his desk?"

"Just barely. He said he'd only just walked in from a meeting. We didn't talk long, maybe twenty minutes, but everything seemed fine. That's when he said he was looking forward to the job being done by the next day. Is he alright?"

"I'm not sure yet," she replied, "but having you as a witness may have just saved his butt. And no, I can't explain," she went on hurriedly. "But I think you just gave me the best birthday present ever. I have to go. I'll talk to you soon."

Before Dieter even had a chance to say goodbye, she'd hung up and was racing to Billy's office. He glanced up, instantly alert from the expression on her face.

"What have you got?"

"Something we can work with," she beamed. "I have a witness that can prove Lee wasn't in Phillip Dart's office at 4 o'clock!"

"You're kidding! How?"

"I'll have to back it up with the phone logs – but Dieter Volkenauer says he was talking to Lee at 3 pm and he was at his desk."

"Are you certain? Lee could have called from anywhere."

"No, Dieter, I mean Lieutenant Volkenauer, he says he called Lee, not the other way around. He was in his office between 3 and 3:30 – and he couldn't have been with Dart."

"How did you figure all this out?"

Francine blushed and looked guilty. "It was that transcript I was telling you about – the one I thought showed Lee was having an affair? I realized from something Dieter said – Lieutenant Volkenauer, that is - that he was the other person in the transcript."

Billy stared at her, his mind going a million miles a minute about what Francine might have discovered while she was investigating Lee. "You think Lee and Volkenauer are having an affair?"

"No! Oh my God, no!" Francine's genuine burst of laughter reassured him. "I thought it was a woman because he teases Lee by calling him _liebling_, but then when I realized it wasn't an eagle, it was a hedgehog, it all made sense."

Billy leaned back and frowned at her. "That doesn't sound much to me like it's making sense. When was the last time you slept?"

"Billy, honestly – I can explain it all – but the two things we know for certain now are that Lee definitely doesn't have a secret East German girlfriend that he's planning to defect to and he definitely wasn't in Dart's office at the time he was killed. He's being set up."

"Dr. Smyth isn't going to buy any of that," replied Billy. "He wants a head on a platter and Scarecrow is the man in his sights right now. He's not going to call off a D1 manhunt just because you're babbling about eagles and porcupines!"

"Not even with T.P.'s info about Sonja Chenko being Makarov's granddaughter?" she asked. "That has to count for something."

"It's still not enough," said Billy. "Not when we don't know if she has any allegiance to her grandfather or not. No, we need to bring Smyth a nice juicy human sacrifice – and as delighted as I am to think that Lee might not be involved, we need to get more before we take it to anyone higher up."

"So we keep following the tips until we get it," said Francine stubbornly.

"Yes," sighed Billy. "And we pray that Lee and Amanda can keep themselves safe until we do."


	13. Left, Right, Together

** Friday **

"Mr. Melrose said he'd go with you all the way," Amanda prodded Lee to open up as they continued to prep their guns. "Do you think he meant it?"

Lee nodded slowly. "I do. Billy is a friend, but he's also the most honorable man I know. If he thought I was really defecting, he would have told me outright at that first meet." He gave a sharp bark of laughter. "And like he said, he would have shot me where I stood to keep me from getting away." He reached to take her gun from her hands and give it a quick inspection before giving a nod and laying it on the table. "Good job, partner."

"He called you Lee," said Amanda, nodding thoughtfully. Off Lee's quizzical look, she went on, "He called you Scarecrow when the other agents arrived, but he always calls you by your name when he's not being your boss, even when he's supposed to be being your boss." She gave a little shrug as if that should be obvious.

Lee pondered that for a moment. "You're right, he does," he acknowledged. "I never noticed that, but it figures you would." He gave her a quick smile and she blushed with the compliment.

"What about Francine?" she asked worriedly. "She was pretty awful before I left, like she thought you'd done it. I'm surprised Mr. Melrose is trusting her to help him."

"Francine is a good agent, but she does tend to see things in black and white and no grays," he replied.

"Well, gray isn't her color," quipped Amanda, making Lee laugh.

"But she's like Billy," he went on, "Honorable through and through. If the evidence pointed at us being guilty, she'd believe it over any personal feelings."

"So what's different now?" Amanda asked with a skeptical look. "Why do you think she's agreed to come with Billy tomorrow?"

"Well, she's either letting personal feelings get in her way or she believes we're innocent," Lee shrugged.

"Which one are you betting on?"

Lee gave that some thought. "You said all her accusations were aimed at me and not you, right? That figures, since she's had some stuff in her life that makes her distrust people. But the two of you have been getting closer so she might have been persuaded by you coming with me. – she must know you wouldn't do anything like what we're accused of."

"I can't believe Francine would ever be persuaded by something I did," said Amanda, with a slight shake of her head.

"Don't underrate yourself," Lee chided. "She might believe the worst about me, but there's no way she thinks you'd commit treason."

"Well, that's ridiculous!" said Amanda hotly. "She shouldn't believe it about you either!"

Lee shifted closer and pulled her onto his lap. "It's nothing personal. She and I – well, we've seen a lot of agents go bad over the years. Davey Benson, Peter Brackin… Harry…" he sighed and gave her a squeeze. "The Agency has to follow the evidence and Alexi has done an amazing job of setting me up."

"He planned this for a long time," Amanda remarked.

"He did – but he didn't count on me having met you. The old Scarecrow would be in Leavenworth by now, written off as a bitter lone wolf gone rogue." His grin lit up his face. "So there's another man brought to his knees by underestimating you."

"Oh really?" Amanda smiled back at him. "Who's the other one?"

Lee didn't respond; he simply stood up, lifting her as she squeaked in surprise and walked to the pull-out bed to lay her down. As she reached for him, he knelt beside the bed and took her hands in his. "Amanda, I know this case has been miserable for you from the start and I want you to know, I need you to know… I wouldn't have made it through this without you." He leaned in to press his lips against hers. "I was a fool to fight letting you in for so long and now we might not have enough time left for me to tell you how much I love you."

"Oh Lee," she said softly, eyes shining with tears, "Even just once is enough."

"Even if it was on the phone?" he teased.

Amanda's cheeks creased with her own dimples. "Okay, maybe twice then." She pulled her hands from his grasp to grab his wrists and tug him towards her. "But it would be better if you showed me."

As Lee let himself be pulled onto the bed, laughing, she suddenly put a hand on his chest and looked serious. "Everything is ready for tomorrow, right?"

"As ready as it can be," he stared down at her. "Have you thought of something we've missed?"

"No," she shook her head as she pulled him down. "I just want the rest of our time here to be just us. No outside world for a few hours. No Agency, no Scarecrow – just you and me."

Lee gave her a long lingering kiss, then leaned back to look in her eyes, his own shining with emotion. "Just you and me," he agreed.

He stood and pulled his t-shirt over his head, tossing it to the side as he began to shuck his jeans off as Amanda scooted back on the bed and did the same. He fell onto the bed, both of them reaching for each other frantically, seeking the skin to skin contact they craved. Lips met lips, tongues clashing, breath intermingled and hands caressing as if to memorize every inch of heated skin.

Lee's tongue was gently caressing her pulse point when she felt him smile against her skin and let out an almost silent huff of amusement.

"What?" She was laughing without even knowing why yet.

"I was just thinking how much I love making out with someone who smells of soap and gun oil at the same time," he chuckled. "I never realized it was an aphrodisiac before."

Amanda squeezed him close, shaking with laughter. "For the longest time, I just thought that was part of your cologne. Like some kind of extra manly perfume note."

Lee grimaced with humor. "And here I thought I've always been careful about cleaning it off."

"You have been," she kissed him lightly. "It just lingered on stuff occasionally and since we spent so much time in the Porsche in those days and it was a small space, I could smell it."

"You're making it sound worse," he complained.

"Oh no, probably no one else would have noticed it," she said, smoothing the lines on his temple. "It's just that… even then, I was always… aware of you. Too aware sometimes – you were under my skin right from the start."

"Still doesn't sound very appealing."

"It was part of you. I liked it," she replied with a soft smile.

"Gun oil? Really?" He cocked his head and smiled down at her.

"The scent was like a little metallic taste on my tongue. It reminded me of who you were, what you were… it made me feel safe."

"You're serious," he said quizzically. His hand was running along the curve of her hip with a mind of its own.

Amanda nodded. "Yeah. And tomorrow, when this is all over… when we're home safe and sound… it will remind me of tonight." Her hand found its way into his hair, stroking his scalp soothingly as she let the silken strands run through her fingers. "That together we're safe."

"I love you," Lee said hoarsely.

"And I love you," she replied, eyes shining. She drew his head down and traced her lips across his. "I want to always remember you like this."

Their lovemaking slowed now, no longer the frantic grips and fevered skin, but no less fervent for all that. Their fingers trailed along goosebumps like braille, reading each other's history in the puckered skin and marks of their past. The future was not discussed, only the present was important.

Amanda pushed Lee onto his back and began to kiss each scar, as though she was casting a spell of imperviousness around him, a shield of memory and love. When she sat back, Lee's fingertips followed the almost imperceptible lines along her abdomen. His eyes met hers in a silent vow of protection; she read it there and nodded her acceptance of whatever was to come. There was something in that certainty that sent him off balance.

"Amanda." He paused, not wanting to say it, but knowing he had to. "It's not too late for you-"

She laid her finger against his lips to stop him. "It'll be ok," she said, leaning down to wrap herself around him. "I've got you."

"And I've got you," he replied, rolling her onto her back and covering her as he had so many times, as protective as a shield and now as ardent as a lover. Their lips met again and he felt it then – the melding of souls, the tether that wouldn't break – and he knew in that instant he would fight until his dying breath not to lose this.

Bodies followed thought, and it was barely an instant before they crashed together in slick heat and sensory overload.


	14. Take a Bow

** Saturday **

"My grandfather planned for many years," remarked Sonja, "and he thought he saw the whole chess game… but did not foresee you." She shook her head with a disgusted look. "He was so certain Scarecrow was a loner, ripe for the picking."

"He knew a young man a decade ago," scoffed Amanda. "He was a fool if he didn't think people would move on." She motioned downward with her gun. "Flat on the ground, please, with your hands behind your head."

"And I was a fool to let him pull me into his web," replied Sonja, as she complied.

"You were more of a fool to think an agent like Lee Stetson would be taken down so easily," pointed out Amanda, letting herself scan the stadium for a moment, relieved when she spotted Lee still in motion, pursuing Makarov, as well as Billy racing to a position most likely to cut them off.

"He almost was," sneered Sonja. "We know The Agency abandoned you both without a second thought."

"Some people perhaps," admitted Amanda, swinging her gaze back to the Russian. "But so did the KGB when your grandfather was in the same position."

"His family did not abandon him!" exclaimed Sonja, fiercely, starting to push herself back off the ground. "We kept the flame alive for him!"

"Ah, ah, ah, stay down" said Amanda, lifting the gun to point it at her carefully. "And Lee's didn't abandon him either."

"He has no family!" said Sonja, hotly. "He has no one except an uncle he detests!"

"Tch, tch," Amanda reprimanded. "Your research is as up to date as your Russian fashion sense. And besides, I'm not talking about the family he has, I'm talking about the family he earned, that he made, that he built – all while your grandfather sat in prison planning revenge on a man that only existed in his imagination."

"You think they would not all have left if Grandfather's plan had been successful? That anyone would have stayed beside him?"

"I would have," said Amanda, softly. "No matter what, even if no one else had."

A slight movement in her peripheral vision brought her gun swinging back – and she found herself training it on a startled Francine who had just appeared at the back of the platform, and was pointing a gun at her in turn.

There was a beat and an intake of breath from both of them before Francine dropped her gaze to Sonja, and the corners of her mouth quirked up.

"When am I ever going to learn that Lee was right about housewives?"

Amanda relaxed and pointed the gun away and Francine did the same, before reaching behind her back and pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

"Oh! May I? Please?" exclaimed Amanda holding out a hand.

"Absolutely – she's your collar," said Francine, tossing them to her.

Amanda knelt beside Sonja, smirking with satisfaction as the cuffs clicked into place on her wrists. She stood up and surveyed the stadium, watching as Lee and Makarov disappeared into a doorway near the press booth.

"Look after this for me," she said curtly, gesturing to Sonja. "I have to go help Lee."

"You don't have to. Billy will be on his way up there," Francine pointed out.

"Billy's not his partner – I am," Amanda shot back as she swung down the steps and began to run.

* * *

"How are you?"

It was the first time Francine had spoken to Amanda since that brief exchange up on the catwalk, both of them dragged in different directions for debriefings and interviews.

Amanda looked up as a cup of coffee was put down in front of her and slid across the table. She met Francine's eyes and gave a half-shrug. "I've been worse. At least I wasn't wired up to a lie detector for this debrief."

Francine slipped into the chair opposite with a wary expression. "You were amazing out there today. I had eyes on you when Sonja jumped you and your evasive maneuvers were textbook."

"Well I guess I've been getting pretty good at evasive maneuvers the last couple of days," replied Amanda shortly.

Francine flinched slightly and her expression went momentarily grim before she composed herself. "Lee's in the other room trying to find ways to say how great you were, but also how you were hardly involved and not to blame for anything at the same time," she said. "It's been very entertaining."

"How's it working out?" asked Amanda, starting to smile a little bit.

"Well, Dr. Smyth is on the ropes and looking for an escape route so it's going pretty well, actually," Francine smiled back. "Taking your side now means he can blame this whole thing on the uppity-ups who thought that leaking info to the Russians was a good idea in the first place. Billy is on record telling them to cancel Stemwinder after Dart's death and everyone who ignored that advice is scrambling to cover their asses."

"That sounds like something that could end up with Lee and me being thrown in jail," remarked Amanda, lifting the coffee cup to her lips again, which made the slight tremble of her hands noticeable. "If they want a fall guy, I mean."

"No," replied Francine, serious again. "The pair of you play better as plucky underdogs who foiled a Soviet plot against our country."

"Seriously?" Amanda lifted a quizzical eyebrow.

"Oh yes, you're both so wholesome looking – like Andy Hardy and his gal Betsy all grown up. Everyone will believe you were framed."

"You didn't," Amanda shot back and watched Francine wince again.

"I don't suppose you'd like to take it as a compliment?" she answered. "That I thought you were capable of fooling us all?"

"Not really," answered Amanda.

"I really am sorry," Francine mumbled.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," Amanda said in a stern voice. "You should be saying that to Lee."

"I have said it to him and he knows I'm sorry, but it's different with him," Francine explained. "He knows that I had to follow the evidence even if I didn't like where it was headed. He'd have done the same in my situation."

Amanda nodded. "He actually said pretty much the same thing last night. He said it wasn't personal."

"It wasn't. It can't be when you're dealing with treason."

"And this was a man you suddenly thought was capable of selling out his country? A man you've known and worked with – and dated – for years." Her dark eyes met Francine's steadily. "You should have known better."

"I did!" said Francine, vehemently. "At first anyway and then…"

"And then?" Amanda prompted. "Over ten years of knowing Lee and you stopped believing him because..?"

"Because I thought he was cheating on you!" Francine blurted out. "There was this phone call last week and on paper, it looked like he was having an affair with a girl in Germany and was planning to run away with her!"

Amanda sat back with a shocked expression. "He was what?"

"All the guys in Transcripts knew about it and I got hold of a copy and Lee was talking to someone who was calling him Darling and joking about his snoring and it looked like…"

"Like the old Lee?" Amanda finished her sentence for her and Francine nodded. Amanda considered that for a moment before asking, "But why would that make you think he was a traitor?"

"They were talking about the escape plan they'd hatched and how no one knew about it, and that you'd turn him in if you found out. With everything going on, it seemed like it might tie in with Stemwinder."

Amanda nodded again, slowly. "Okay, I can see that." She tilted her head and surveyed the blonde opposite. "But you obviously figured out it wasn't true since you helped Billy to help us."

"It wasn't," agreed Francine. "The transcript turned out to be missing some pretty vital information."

"Like what?" Amanda lifted the coffee to take a small sip.

"Like the fact that the person on the other end of the line was a man."

Amanda's eyes went wide as she choked on the coffee. "Excuse me?" she finally managed to splutter as Francine leaped to pat her back. "Someone heard Lee calling a man 'Darling' in a phone call?"

"Of course not! It was a bad translation!" Francine started to laugh and gave her an impish look. "And it was the other way around anyway – it was the man calling him Darling."

"It was the other man…" Amanda's voice trailed off. "Why?"

"It was Dieter," Francine explained. "They did a literal translation of '_liebling'_ so I didn't pick up on it at first."

Amanda's brows drew together as she considered that. She struggled to hold in the slightly hysterical laugh that was bubbling up. She could hardly wait to see Lee's face when he heard what had cleared him. "And the escape plan..?"

"Was something to do with my birthday," said Francine apologetically. "I haven't had a chance to ask Lee yet."

"Oh, of course!" exclaimed Amanda. "So that's all those phone calls were about! Hmph!" She gave off a snort of annoyance. "As if I couldn't have kept that a secret!"

"Dieter ended up being Lee's alibi for Dart's murder too – Dieter had called him at the office that afternoon when he was supposedly over at State."

"So how did you figure it all out?"

"It's going to sound silly, but you know how Dieter teases Lee about being a hedgehog?"

Amanda nodded, a small smile flitting across her lips.

"Well, he did that on this phone call, but it took a while for it to sink in because the guys in Transcription didn't understand that the German word _igel_ sounds like the English word 'eagle', but once I realized…" Francine voice trailed off. "I should have known without that though. I just reacted and didn't think it through." She looked up to meet Amanda's steady gaze. "But I shouldn't have thought you were gullible enough to have been fooled into something like this."

"Old habits are hard to break, hmm?" Amanda's smile turned mischievous. "It's sad to see you getting so set in your ways in your old age."

"Old age?" repeated Francine in mock outrage. "I'm only 32!"

"You're 33." Amanda toasted her with the coffee cup. "Happy Birthday."

Francine sat back in shock. "You remembered?"

"It's one of my habits to remember my friends' birthdays."

This time, Amanda's smile told her she was on the road to forgiveness.


	15. Working On It

** Sunday **

"Amanda, did you get him?"

"I'm working on it!"

Amanda felt the rush of contentment at the sight of Lee grinning at her as he tugged her closer and began nuzzling her cheek. After everything they'd been through in the last few weeks, it was so good to see him relaxed and happy.

"Now why are you still lying to your mother?" he murmured into her ear. "You know you've got me."

"And you have me too," she reminded him. "Although I did miss you last night. You know, it's weird – we weren't away all that long, but it's already strange not to climb into bed with you every night."

Lee gave her a small squeeze of agreement. "Me too. The bed at home is too big for just me now."

"So is mine – but I'm not gonna lie… after that pullout sofa all week? It's bliss."

"Look at Miss Fancy Pants," Lee teased. "Remember when you thought it was better than a box under the freeway?"

"You do take me to all the nicest places," she smiled, running her hands up and down his back.

"I'll take you to the Ritz one day, I promise."

"I don't need the Ritz – I just need you." Amanda tipped up to press another kiss on his lips. "But right now, I also need to get back inside before Mother comes out here looking for me."

They shared another lingering kiss before breaking apart with regretful expressions.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

Amanda gave a quick glance at the house, then turned back shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I need to spend time with them. You understand, don't you?"

"I do… I'm just selfish," he replied with a tired smile. "I don't suppose that trellis got fixed while we were away?" he added wistfully.

"I don't think it was on Mother's priority list somehow, do you?" she reprimanded him, cupping his cheek so he'd know she was teasing.

Lee shook his head, dimples dancing in his cheeks. "A man can hope, can't he?" He lifted her hand to kiss her fingers, with a wink.

As he turned to leave, Amanda's expression turned to concern. "Lee? You'll be alright, won't you?" When he lifted an inquiring eyebrow, she waved her hand toward the house. "I mean, I have Mother and the boys, but you… I worry about you, going home alone." The push and pull of her emotions was visible on her face.

"Well, you don't need to worry," Lee answered. He stepped back toward her to hold her hands. "I meant what I said – I may be going home to an empty bed, but you-" He tapped his heart. "You're right in here and I'm not alone anymore." He gave her hands a squeeze. "I may never be able to tell you how much it meant to me that you came with me that day, that you never lost your faith in me… but I promise to spend the rest of my life trying."

"Oh Lee."

He could see the shine of tears in her eyes. "Hey, no crying – your mother will wonder what the dog did to make you cry." he gave her a chuck under the chin and waited for her to smile. "Now go on inside. Go be with them – and when you're ready, I'll be waiting."


End file.
